喜樂美語

核心畫面

Imagine a burst of inspiration being breathed into you like air, so that you suddenly think of — or pull off — something far better than usual. Inspired describes that lit-up state, as if a bright idea arrived from outside you.

可以想成有一股靈感像空氣一樣被『吹進』你心裡，讓你忽然想到、或做到平常做不到的好東西。inspired 描述的就是那…更多收起可以想成有一股靈感像空氣一樣被『吹進』你心裡，讓你忽然想到、或做到平常做不到的好東西。inspired 描述的就是那種好像被外來靈光點亮的狀態。

From the word’s history

Inspired goes back to Latin inspirare — in- 'into' + spirare 'to breathe' — literally 'to breathe into'. The early sense was of a god breathing an idea or impulse into a person; the modern 'brilliant, as if divinely gifted' grows straight out of that picture.

inspired 來自拉丁文 inspirare，拆開是 in-（進去）＋ spirare（呼吸），字面就是『把氣吹進去』。最早指神把某個念頭或衝動吹進人心裡；今天『出色得像有神助』的意思，正是從這個畫面長出來的。

Etymonline, 'inspire' (https://www.etymonline.com/word/inspire); Merriam-Webster, 'The Origins of Inspire'.

Two branches

靈光乍現

最貼近核心的一支：表現或判斷好得不尋常，像被一口氣的靈感點亮。

brilliantly skillful · adjective · B2

Showing special skill or imagination that is much better than usual, as if guided by a sudden great idea.

出色的

受…而起

換個方向看『被吹進』：不是靈感,而是某個原因把這件事激了出來。

motivated by (cause) · adjective · B2

Caused or started because of a particular reason, such as politics or religion.

出於…而起的

原始詞典資料6 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

inspiredadj/ɪnˈspaɪɹd/

  • 1

    Having excellence through inspiration.

    • The actor's inspired performance of Hamlet's soliloquy left the audience dumbfounded.
    • New Zealand were crowned world champions for the first time in 24 years after squeezing past an inspired France team by a single point.
  • 2

    Filled with inspiration or motivated.

    • The artist was inspired to paint a true masterpiece.
    • He was inspired to learn to fly.
  • 3

    lifestylereligionInfused with power or knowledge granted from a supernatural entity; possessing inspiration from the divine.

    • Korean shamans are thought to be capable of inspired speech, in which they convey the words of the gods.
    • The point which I wish to establish is this, that the whole prediction of the future establishment of the religion of the Gospel was an inspired prediction, a prediction answerable to the highest test of a supernatural prescience.
  • 4

    Drawn into the lungs; inhaled.

  • 5

    obsoleteInflated.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。